Princess In Training
by wardigo
Summary: This story continues where The Elite left off. America is trying to win back Maxon, make amends for her missteps at the Report, and become the princess that everyone wants, but with a king plotting her failure, and the Rebels stepping up their attacks, America's not sure she will even survive at the palace for much longer. **Rated T for later chapters
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Selection trilogy. The universe, all characters, basic plot setup, etc were created by the lovely Kiera Cass.

- Princess in Training: Chapter 1-

It had been two weeks since my near elimination, and I was still trying to settle back into the competition. My maids had been a blessing – constructing increasingly beautiful gowns and giving me earnest, enthusiastic support and encouragement. They were my refuge from the rest of the palace residents.

The king openly disdained me. He took every opportunity to subtly insult and belittle me, and I had to bite my tongue to avoid any rash responses. Even more humiliating was that he often had an audience for this abuse. The other girls would smirk and glance at each other as if to reassure one another that I was not long for the palace.

While Kriss and Elise had been diplomatic about my remaining over Natalie, Celeste was, well, Celeste. The first moment we were alone, both on our way to the Women's Room, she backed me against a wall and told me she would do whatever it took to get me out of the competition. Then she very purposefully latched onto the delicate ribbon sleeve of my latest beautiful dress, and pulled, tearing it down the length of my front so that I had to run clumsily to my room to change. The guard on duty looked both alarmed and sympathetic as I frantically pushed past him into the safety of my own quarters.

My guards had been strangers since my return. Aspen could barely look at me when he returned to my room to find me giggling happily with my maids. I had told him I was going home to nurse a broken heart, that I needed time before I could be with him, that my adventures in the palace were over, except that I had stayed. I had stayed for another man. I never got the chance to explain to him what had happened, although I wasn't sure that would help. Since that moment, there were new guards at my door. He must have switched posts. Now I would see him occasionally in passing, but there was no way to catch him alone to talk. It would be too dangerous to try at this point, anyway, with the king keeping a close watch over my actions.

And the person I was suffering through all this abuse and uncertainty for, the man I had stayed to fight for, he had been – polite. After the night we had shared in the safe room, Maxon and I had barely spent any time in private together. Now we would have a few stolen moments in the gardens or the halls before we were interrupted by his father, or Celeste, or some important matter of the country that had to be dealt with immediately.

I just had to keep reminding myself not to be too discouraged. I was given a second chance, and while it would be harder to redeem myself than to begin with a clean slate, I would do my absolute best to turn the tide.

I gave myself this pep talk every morning before breakfast. Sometimes it helped.

We had gathered in the Women's Room on Saturday, waiting on some instructions from Sylvia. Kriss had been missing since after breakfast, but we all had a good idea of where she was. Celeste lazily leafed through one of her gossip magazines, while Elise and I strained to make some casual conversation. Sylvia paced back and forth, waiting for the final member of our group. Finally, Kriss raced in, looking flushed and happy. I began to grow uncomfortably hot as I imagined all the situations she might have come from to look like that.

"So sorry I'm late!" she breathed out as she dashed gracefully into an armchair in front of Sylvia. She didn't need to elaborate any more on why she was late.

Sylvia immediately launched into her spiel. "As you have probably noticed, we have not had you at the Reports for the past two weeks. We have been recovering from the last rebel attack, as well as fallout from your last Report." She looked meaningfully at me then. I directed my gaze at the floor, waiting for the unwelcome attention to pass.

Sylvia had not forgiven me for my rash actions on the Report. She had trusted me and been encouraged by my interest in learning, and I had betrayed her trust. She had grudgingly agreed to continue giving me additional training in political action and etiquette, but where she had previously been warm and enthusiastic, she was now coldly observant.

"Next week you will be back on the Report," she continued, "doing interviews with Gavril Fadaye and the royal family. This will be another excellent chance to allow the public to get to know you, and to see how you would fit in with the royal family. You will be talking about your time in the Selection, your relationship with Prince Maxon, and some of the goals you hope to accomplish if you become Princess. This final part will be something of an extension to your philanthropic presentations. I have some sample questions so that you can rehearse answers, and I will be meeting with each of your personally on Thursday to practice."

She handed Elise, Celeste, and Kriss thin folders. One folder remained in her hands.

"America, I have some additional instructions for you. The king has requested that I give you extra attention, to make sure your answers are…sufficient." I felt my face turn red as I noticed Celeste smirk at me while Elise and Kriss exchanged glances.

"Girls, feel free to get started on your answers. America, please follow me." Sylvia turned and started briskly from the room, not even looking back to make sure I was following. I leaped up, stumbling over the hem of my dress. One of the "improvements" my maids had made was tighter fitting dresses. This certainly didn't help me improve my grace and poise, since I could barely move now with the constricting skirts. I was beginning to understand why Celeste always had those slits up to her thigh.

I raced out of the Women's Room to see Sylvia racing down the left corridor. I stumbled along behind her, finally catching up by the time we'd reached the end of the hall. She glanced around her surreptitiously before producing a thick key and swiftly unlocking a heavy wooden door tucked in a back corner of the dimly lit corridor.

She swooped inside and I followed close behind her. When I was inside she quickly and quietly shut the door and locked it behind us. We stood at the landing of a steep set of stone stairs the curled up into darkness.

"Where are we-" I began to question her.

"Not here," she whispered sharply, cutting me off.

She began to climb, and even though I could hear her breathing grow heavier, she didn't slow her pace. The stairway was barely illuminated by the occasional narrow window cut into the wall. As we moved steadily upwards and away from the light and warmth of the palace, I pondered all of the reasons I was being led on this strange path. Did Maxon arrange a secret meeting, away from the prying eyes of his father and the other girls? Or did the king want to catch me completely alone, where Maxon couldn't come to my rescue and he could knock me out of the Selection for good? Or was Sylvia somehow involved with the rebels, and they had snuck into the palace to kidnap me?

After what felt like ten minutes of climbing straight up and imagining increasingly absurd and upsetting scenarios, we reached another thick, wooden door. This time, Sylvia knocked, two long beats and then three short ones. A moment later the door creaked open, and Queen Amberly stood before us.


	2. Chapter 2

Silvia quickly ushered me in through the door and swiftly closed the door behind me, shutting me in alone with the Queen. The room we stood uncomfortably in was a small, circular tower room, with narrow windows sliced into the stone walls at even intervals. The windows didn't have any glass panes over them, so we were exposed to the cooling autumn air. At this height, what was a gentle breeze on the ground level became a powerful torrent. Crisp wind swept in between the windows, whipping at our hair and gowns and sucking the sound away with it, so that all I could hear were the whistle and swoosh of high pressure air.

Queen Amberly stood facing me just a few inches away, she directed me to follow her across the small room, to a small alcove between two of the windows. Miraculously, the wind pressure decreased in this little space, and I could begin to hear myself think once more. As she turned back to face me, I realized with a start that I was almost as tall as her. Somehow she made it seem as though she towered over everyone around her, except maybe her husband. She leaned in close to be heard.

"You must be wondering what you're doing here," the Queen began.

"No, I'm really just wondering what's for dessert tonight," I thought before checking myself. No more joking around. I had to be poised, serious and proper, especially around Queen Amberly. I simply nodded.

"I asked Silvia to bring you here so that we could talk openly. Have you ever heard the expression, the walls have ears?"

I shook my head no.

"It's an old expression, coming from before the wars. It means that anyone could be listening while you're in the palace. There might be spies anywhere – even in the Women's Room. Even in your bedroom. Whether they are gathering information for my husband, or for the rebels, or simply to have for a time when it most benefits them."

I shivered, remembering those few times I had snuck away with Aspen. Had someone seen us? Were they just storing that knowledge away for some opportune moment?

The queen continued. "We can be sure in this room that no one will hear our conversation. My husband forgets it exists, because it is so rarely used, and only a select few of us have keys to this tower. Even I must be careful of what I say and do. My husband is a powerful man. And to say that you're not his favorite member of the Selection would be, quite frankly, an understatement. He wants you to fail. In some ways, I can understand why. The way you behaved on the Report was alarming. A future monarch cannot simply spout off some radical view that will divide the country without considering all the repercussions of such actions."

I looked down in shame once more. Even though I knew it wasn't likely to happen, I had hoped everyone might just let that whole incident slide. Apparently I was going to be making amends for it until I was old and gray.

"However, I do _not_ want you to fail." I looked up at her in shock. Her face was an unreadable mask as she continued speaking to me.

"When I participated in the Selection, I shared your beliefs, and your immaturity. I had a blind hope that only youths can possess. I believed that if I won, if I married Clarkson and became his queen, I would be able to make great changes to this country – help my people in the South, change the way the caste system worked, eliminate it even.

Clarkson was not quite the man I thought him to be, and that change I had hoped for, well if anything, the rigidity of the system has gotten worse. I lost all hope, for a while. When Maxon was born, I realized he was my hope. He was my change. My son is not like his father.

Once Maxon is king, once Clarkson finally cedes his control, then we can start pushing for some of these changes. But even then, it will be a slow, laborious process. Even if Clarkson had wanted to change the fabric of this country, there are still so many advisors, society members, people from the upper castes who would lose too much if the caste system were changed. It will be a long, difficult battle Maxon will fight.

That is where you come in."

I swallowed heavily. I had never expected such candidness from the Queen, but here we were now, in this strange secret tower, and she was telling more than I'd ever dreamed of knowing about our royal family.

"Maxon needs someone by his side to support him and help him fight for these changes. Celeste has no desire to change the system. She would do more to thwart him than to help him. Elise does not have much time left here. Kriss could be an excellent wife, but I'm not convinced she has the spine to do what's necessary – to stand up to my husband and his advisors."

I wasn't sure I had the spine for that either, as I thought back to my recent interactions with the king.

The queen went on. "That leaves you. You have a mind for change – you want to improve the state of our country and its people. You have fight in you, although I'm not sure yet if that's an advantage or a liability. And my son loves you. He may not always be able to show it, but I can see. I assume you feel the same way towards him, otherwise you would have gone home by now."

She paused then, eying me critically as if to read my mind through my expression. I tried to remain as stoic as she had throughout her speech. I guessed that I wasn't succeeding, based on the hot flush I felt spreading across my face. Finally, I gave up and nodded slightly, agreeing with her assessment of me.

"The question for you then, Lady America, is do you have what it takes to be princess? Are you able to learn? You've convinced the lower caste members that you will fight for them, but that scares my husband and most others who are in power. So now, can you convince those in power that you are a sweet, simple, pliable girl who only loves the Prince, and pretty dresses? Can you convincingly take back your words from the last Report, so that Clarkson will stop trying to hard to keep you and Maxon apart? And even beyond that, can you learn to mask your emotions, move and act with grace and subtlety, accept setbacks and bad news without throwing a tantrum?"

I'd been asking myself those questions, although not as eloquently phrased or thought out, throughout my entire time at the palace, and I still didn't have any answers.

As Queen Amberly watched me, I realized she was waiting for me to say something.

"I hope so?" I replied weakly.

She nodded, still observing me intently as I shifted uncomfortably before her.

"I hope so too, America. But you are at a huge disadvantage right now. You will have to work twice as hard as the other girls just to remain here. I've asked Silvia to give you extra tutoring in a range of subjects, and she has graciously agreed."

Queen Amberly swept back across the tower room to the wooden door. She opened it a crack and allowed Silvia in. The two women approached me in the alcove, and then the Queen resumed her speech.

"Your first task is to master your upcoming interview on the Report. Clarkson wants you to convincingly explain away your last presentation, in such a way that it doesn't appear you are being forced to take back your words. Luckily, only the first minute of your presentation was broadcast before Clarkson had the cameras shut down, but it is still not an easy task. You must appear contrite, appealing, and somewhat simple, while also maintaining some of the personality you've already shown the nation and conveying that you are intelligent and adaptable enough to be their princess. And you only have a few minutes to convey all of this."

She smiled kindly at me then, showing her first hint of emotion. "And you _must_ learn to mask your emotions. I can see your anxiety all over your face."

I attempted to form my expression into cold, immovable stone. I could only imagine what I looked like, but I knew it wasn't good from the way that the Queen and Silvia exchanged amused glances.

"You will have daily meetings with Silvia in the classroom to practice your answers to the interview questions. As no one, not even my son, can know about our little meeting here, you will say that you spent the past hour going over the interview questions with Silvia. Since you won't actually have that extra practice time with her today, you need to spend extra time working on your own tonight.

Silvia has also had books and documents delivered to your room. These are books on law, policy, national statistics, decorum, and anything else she thought might help you improve your performance. Study them.

Finally, you must work on improving your posture and movement. You're clumsy, America."

Ouch, I thought to myself. Even the Queen had noticed.

"You walk with your shoulder hunched and your eyes to the ground," she continued.

"Well, I'm just trying to see the ground because when I wear heels-"

"No excuses," Queen Amberly cut me off firmly. "You must begin to carry yourself like royalty, with your shoulders down and back, and your eyes aimed directly in front of you. However, you are also a lady, and you must present yourself as one. Take smaller steps. Don't rush – simply give yourself a little extra time to get where you're going. Don't swing your arms like a lumberjack. Either keep your hands clasped in front of you, or be aware of how much you're swinging them.

Observe how Celeste moves. She may be a nasty girl, but she knows how to present herself. Learn from her."

I nodded, trying to catch all those wisps of advice before they blew out the windows with the powerful wind.

"It's a lot to remember," the Queen told me kindly. "That is why Silvia will be there to remind you. But if you remember only one thing, it is to mask your emotions. Remain calm on the outside, and if you feel the need to react to something, first pause, take a deep breath, think of the proper way to respond, and then do so. If you are unable to keep yourself in check, simply excuse yourself politely so you can be alone. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Very good, Lady America. Now we have all been gone for too long. Silvia will lead you back to the Women's Room and I will meet you back there shortly. Remember, you were with Silvia practicing for your upcoming interview. If you have any questions, ask her. If we need to meet again, Silvia will arrange it. And do not mention this meeting to anyone. Do not forget –the walls have ears."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Don't thank me, Lady America. Just work hard. That's the only thanks I need. Silvia," she turned to face the other woman. "Thank you for all your help with this."

Silvia curtsied smoothly before turning back to me. "Follow me, Lady America. We must get back, and you must get to work."

Gracefully, Silvia swept across the tower room and out the door. I scurried along after her, trying to keep my shoulder back and my head up without toppling over.

When we reached the bottom of the spiral staircase, Silvia paused at the door and motioned for me to be quiet. Carefully, she pressed her ear against the heavy door, waiting and listening. We must have stood there for nearly five minutes until Silvia deemed it safe. She drew out her key and unlocked the door gently. After cracking the door open and peeking through, she motioned me forward. I squeezed through the gap between wall and partially opened door, and then was out, standing in the empty side hallway as Silvia exited and closed the door securely behind her.

As soon as Silvia replaced the key in her pocket, the tension seemed to fall away from her body. WE must have been taking more of a risk than I'd realized, meeting secretly like this. I wondered just how bad my standing with King Clarkson was.

"Let's get you back, Lady America. You've got your work cut out for you."

Silvia swept past me and down the hall in her usual brisk pace. I followed after as smoothly as I could manage, so focused on my posture and step that I didn't notice the door further down the hall open until it was too late. With a painful jolt, I rammed straight into Maxon and Kriss.

**Thanks for all the reviews so far! And I promise there will be much more Maxon coming down the line.


	3. Chapter 3

The force of collision knocked me onto the floor. I landed hard on my butt, and when I looked up founded Maxon and Kriss, both still standing of course, staring down at me in concern.

"America! Are you okay?" Maxon offered me his hand, helping me back onto my feet.

"Sure, yeah. Fine." I still hadn't regained my breathe from the fall.

"Are you sure?" Kriss jumped in. "That looked like a pretty hard fall."

_Thanks a lot, Kriss_, I thought to myself, before calmly responding. "I'm sure. Thank you."

"What were you doing back here?" Maxon asked. I had my excuse at the ready.

"I was practicing for the next Report with Silvia." Maxon glanced around, apparently noticing the older woman for the first time.

"What were _you_ doing back here?" I countered.

Maxon and Kriss looked sheepishly at each other, and I began to feel anxious cramping in my stomach. They had snuck off into a rarely used hallway together. Even if they hadn't been kissing, they had still been sharing something intimate and exclusive, while I hadn't spent any real time with Maxon in weeks.

"We were just taking a walk," Maxon responded.

I looked hard at him, willing him to give me a little more information than that, but he was a closed book. He looked innocently back at me, and I could tell I wasn't going to get anything out of him.

Silvia cleared her throat loudly. My time was up.

"Well, I should get back to work," I said primly. "I guess I'll see you at dinner."

"Actually-" Maxon scratched the back of his head uncomfortably, and that cramping in my stomach doubled. "I'll be having dinner with Kriss tonight."

They both smiled awkwardly at me. She got to spend day and night with Maxon now.

"Right." I didn't think I could take much more of this. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast then."

I was relieved that he didn't contradict me, but it was small comfort. I turned to follow Silvia back to the Women's Room, while the two lovebirds continued on their way together.

I was stewing, but Silvia was right next to me, and I had to be on my best behavior.

"You handled that fairly well, America," Silvia commented. "Next time try not to be so stiff."

I knew I wouldn't be able to respond politely, so I bit my tongue and kept my mouth shut.

Dinner that night was a somber affair. Maxon and Kriss were off romancing each other somewhere, Celeste had had the foresight to dine in her room, and so that left me and Elise alone with the king and queen. No one bothered to attempt any small talk. The room was almost silent, punctuated by the patter of the servers' footsteps and the scratching of silverware against dishes. I had never noticed how _loudly_ people chewed and swallowed until there was nothing loud enough to drown all of that out. The entire meal seemed more like a race to see who could get the food down their throats the fastest, rather than a civil, elegant meal.

I won the race. No surprise there. I knew I might be letting down Queen Amberly with this show of speed eating, but after a day of cramming my brain with the rules of decorum and the best way to avoid answering uncomfortable questions, I was pretty damn sick of being proper.

I excused myself early, glad to be free of that painful meal, and returned to my room, only to be met with a looming pile of books and papers that I was to read and learn. Every room in this palace was out to suffocate me.

I sat down and opened up the first book on the pile – _The Ancient Laws of Illea_. It was a monstrous beast, its bulk so weighty that I attempted to read the thing over trying to move it to access the books and papers underneath it. I lasted about 10 minutes before I began to feel more tired than I had ever felt before.

I went to sleep early, justifying to myself that I would be more productive tomorrow if I got a good night of sleep and woke early, refreshed and ready for more studying.

Refreshed wasn't exactly the best way to describe how I felt the next morning – perhaps battered and aching all over would be more accurate. All night I had dreamed. I didn't remember much, just a few flashes of gigantic tomes raining down on me, Kriss and Maxon laughing together and moving in for their first, passionate kiss, and King Clarkson standing over me with a cane. I opened my eyes to the vision of the books and papers I'd left the night before, and moaned in agony.

"What's wrong, my lady? Are you sick?" Anne asked, entering my line of vision suddenly.

"Wha-? Oh, no, I just didn't sleep very well."

Mary and Lucy joined her in hovering over me. They all looked down concernedly at me.

"Well we had better get started getting you ready for breakfast. We have a lot of work to do this morning, with those bags under your eyes now. You really should try to sleep better, miss."

Something I needed to get better at. Wonderful.

Maxon and Kriss were both at breakfast, but as was becoming usual, Maxon barely looked at me during the entire meal. I tried to catch his eye and tug on my ear multiple times, but he either didn't notice, or was actively avoiding me. I was beginning to suspect the worst.

Kriss was cheery and generously smiling at everyone in the room. It made her look very soft and appealing – perfect for a princess. I knew I had to attempt the same, but with the grogginess in my head and the aching all over my body, my attempts to smile would probably just look like grimaces.

I had to remind myself of my meeting with the Queen. She believed in me, and I had to pull myself together for her, if not myself. I sat up straight, and tried to soften myself into something placid and pleasant, if not the luminescent smile that Kriss was showing off.

After breakfast, it was off to class with Silvia, and then my extra tutoring sessions with her, and my lonely, endless hours of study and practice.

For the next few days, it was the same ritual. I would attempt to maintain a calm, elegant demeanor while in public, and in the privacy of my room I would loose my mind trying to cram every tiny bit of information that Silvia had given me into my brain. I was making decent progress on perfecting the answers to my interview questions, so much so that, when I took a break from the cramming, I would hear lines from my answers on repeat in my head. And meanwhile, Maxon continued to avoid me.

On Wednesday afternoon, I finally reached a breaking point. My eyes burned and the words on the page I was studying began to blur. I must have read the same sentence five times before I finally realized my brain had reached its maximum capacity. I needed a break.

I slammed the book shut and informed my maids I was going for a walk in the garden. Anne insisted I take a cloak – it was getting chilly outside, even in the sun – and so, bundled in my gorgeous purple travel cloak, I strolled confidently toward the garden.

I slowed as I neared the doors leading outside. Two guards stood in front of the exit, and I wondered if my missteps had caused Maxon or the king to revoke my outdoor privileges.

_Show nothing_, I reminded myself, and strode up to them and smoothly past into the open sky.

The air was crisp and clean, and it immediately cleared my head. I wondered why I hadn't come out here sooner. Everything I had been stressed out about felt farther away out here, as if I'd traveled a million miles through space and my problems and worries were just tiny stars, glistening charmingly in the distance.

I walked and breathed in the clean scent of the fall air. I smiled my first genuine smile all week. I had gone a fair distance from the palace, approaching the woods, when I sensed another person coming up behind me. I quickly concluded it was either a guard coming to tell me I'd gone too far, or a rebel in the beginning of another attack. I whipped around, prepared to defend myself either way, and found myself facing Maxon.

** Thanks for all the reviews! Keep em coming - it helps keep me writing! Apologies for the second Maxon cliffhanger. This chapter was supposed to last longer / have more Maxon action, I just ran out of time. I'll hopefully have this next Maxon / America chapter up tomorrow!


	4. Chapter 4

"You!" I blurted out in shock.

He chuckled. "You," he replied.

"I just, I wasn't expecting to see you out here. I haven't seen you much at all recently."

"I know." He looked down and shuffled uncomfortably, confirming my suspicion. He had been avoiding me.

"So what are you doing out here now?"

"I saw you through the window. I thought I'd come out to join you. If that's alright."

There was still that awkward distance between us, which had formed when he'd saved me from leaving the Selected and we hadn't had the time or closeness to break down.

"Of course it's alright, I just don't understand. Didn't you see me trying to signal you?"

He sighed and looked at me pleadingly. "I did."

I tensed up at his confession, about to hurry away at the feel of hot tears collecting in my eyes.

"America, darling," he stepped close and grabbed my hand, preventing me from fleeing. "I'm sorry. I've just been afraid to face you."

I was rapidly losing control over my tears, and I knew as soon as I spoke they would come gushing out, but I'd been holding everything in all week, and I couldn't restrain myself any longer.

"Afraid to face me? I stayed for _you_, and I've barely gotten a word out of you for _weeks_. I'm almost completely alone here now and desperately needing a friend, needing some support, someone to talk to you, and you're afraid to face me?"

He wrapped his arms tight around me and held me close as I sobbed out everything I'd kept underneath the surface. The safe warmth of his arms made me lose complete control, and I cried until I felt entirely drained – of tears, of energy, and of the emotions that were churning around inside of me for the past few weeks.

When I'd stopped crying, I extricated myself from his arms. He looked at me with such concern; I could have broken down all over again if I'd had anything left in me.

"Why were you afraid to face me," I asked finally.

"I'm so sorry, America. I didn't mean to make you feel this way."

"Why were you afraid?"

"I read Gregory Illea's diaries. The night after I argued for you to stay. I knew my father was having them moved to another secure location. Before he moved them, I went to the library to read them. It took all night, but I read every one of them."

"So why are you afraid of me?"

"I'm ashamed, America. All this time, I thought I was descended from a great man – a man who saved this country from ruin, who put these laws – the caste – in place because it was necessary. Now I see that he was just a fraud – a selfish, manipulative, charismatic fraud. I believed there was a reason I was going to be king, that I had something inherent within me that qualified me to lead the country. But I don't. It's just a massive scam that I'm a part of. I don't know what to do now, or where to go from here. I've been trying to convince you of the importance of my role here, and of the good you could do at my side; the good we could do _together_. But how can I do any good? My family's only ever harmed this country. What could I possibly do to make up for all the damage we've done? How can I, in good conscience, accept the throne, knowing what I know now?"

He gazed at me pleadingly, as if I could somehow answer all these impossible questions. I was furious at Maxon for abandoning me so abruptly after everything we'd been through together, but he looked so vulnerable and desolate, that my anger began to trickle away.

When I didn't respond, Maxon continued. "And you knew all of this. All along, you knew, and you thought that I knew. What a monster you must have thought I was! No wonder you were so resistant. I must have sounded so foolish to you, trying to convince you that when you were my wife, you could make positive changes. There's nothing good about having my family in power. There never has been," he concluded bitterly.

Maxon looked so vulnerable then. I'd only seen him that way once before, when we were hiding in the safe room together, and it dissolved the rest of my anger and resistance. I opened myself to him, and he came immediately into my arms. Despite everything, my world felt right again when he held me against him, as though he would never let go.

"You _can_ do good, Maxon," I spoke softly into his ear. "You're strong enough and good enough to change this country for the better. You're the only one who can make real progress. I want to be by your side when you do."

He drew away, holding me at arm's length and looking intently into my eyes, trying to determine my sincerity.

"Do you mean it, America? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I'm still here, aren't I?"

Maxon smiled at my words, and I realized how long it had been since I'd seen him really smile. He was incredible when he smiled like that. His face opened up and drew me into him. I was powerless to resist.

"I've missed you so much, darling." Maxon drew me in once more, gently cupping my chin and tipping my head up towards his. It had been too long since I'd kissed Maxon. My lips tingled in anticipation.

"Pardon me, Your Majesty," a deep voice brutally cut in. Maxon's lips curled in frustration before he pulled away from me with a sigh. His absence chilled me; I abruptly realized how cold it had become outside.

"What is it?" Maxon's voice was much harsher than usual as he addressed the two soldiers standing uncomfortably before us. They didn't appear to want to be there either.

"The king sent us to get you. There is an urgent war briefing that he says you are to attend to immediately."

"Of course there is," Maxon sighed. "I'll be there in a minute."

Despite Maxon's clear dismissal, the soldiers remained.

"Well, Your Majesty," the speaking soldier hesitantly continued, "the king really did stress the importance of your coming immediately-"

"I said a minute!" Maxon erupted. I realized I had never seen him lose his temper like that before.

"Of course, sir." The soldiers bowed and hastily retreated.

Finally alone again, Maxon turned back to me. His earlier smile was long gone.

"I'm so sorry about this," he lightly ran his hand along my cheek, and my body shivered pleasantly in response. "Will you accompany me back to the palace, or are you going to stay out here longer?"

"I'll come back with you."

Maxon offered his arm and we walked back slowly, pressed together and desperate to make our time together last a little longer. At least, I was, anyway.

"So you've been very busy with the war?" I asked, trying to gain some sense of how things were going. "It seems like you've had a lot of these meetings."

"Well, yes, but-" Maxon paused.

"What is it?"

"That's the other thing. I think my father's been trying to keep us from having any time together. Any time I've tried to make plans with you or spend any extra time with you, he seems to call these urgent meetings. He allowed you to stay here, but he's still…resistant…to you."

"You're putting it gently, aren't you?"

Maxon laughed and ruefully nodded his head. "I am. Look, America, I don't want to put any extra pressure on you, but there is a lot riding on the Report interview. The only way my father will ease up on you is if you can convincingly recover from the last Report."

"I know, I know. I can't mess this up."

"You _don't _know," he breathed vehemently. We were almost back to the palace by now, just a short distance from the doors and the waiting guards, but Maxon stopped and turned me to face him. He was serious, and he wanted me to know it.

"After this Report, someone else will have to go home, and then it's the final three. Our future together depends on this interview."

I felt nauseous. My stomach was roiling. I had known this to some extent, but hearing Maxon tell me so explicitly, so desperately, what was at stake, was sending me into a state of panic.

"I'm so sorry to add this pressure, America," Maxon continued. "I just can't send you home. I want you here. I need you here. I've missed you."

I just nodded. I'd gone dumb from the stress of the competition and the raw openness of his words.

"Oh America," Maxon breathed, leaning in and just barely grazing my lips with his own. Then he turned and walked briskly inside, to his war briefing and his princely duties, while I remained motionless outside, basking in the sensation of his soft lips warming mine, warring against the cool autumn air.

So sorry for the delay in this last chapter! Somehow this week became crazy busy. Hope you enjoyed some quality Maxon time!

And thanks for the lovely reviews! I'll try to have another chapter up this weekend...


	5. Chapter 5

The night before the Report, I hardly slept at all. I had memorized and rehearsed endlessly with Silvia. My answers were so drilled into my head that they had lost any meaning for me. I hardly knew what I was saying; I just recognized the vowels and consonants that now flowed seemingly naturally from my mouth.

I closed my eyes that night and saw the words written across my mind, heard myself repeating them over and over again. I reminded myself that I had to get a good night of sleep, otherwise I'd have dark, swollen bags underneath my eyes for the broadcast. That only made me more anxious.

Eventually I drifted into a fitful, restless sleep, waking up every so often and having to coax myself back to sleep. Finally, the sun rose and even though it was barely past dawn, I judged it late enough that I could give up on sleep.

I was very alert, despite having barely gotten any sleep, or maybe because of it. That wasn't entirely comforting – chances were high I'd be collapsing in exhaustion in a few hours, before I even made it to the Report.

The palace was silent. It was still hours before my maids would come to wake me. Taking a seat at my piano, I hoped the walls were thick enough that I wouldn't wake anyone. I probably should have been practicing, but I needed to give my brain a rest.

I played some of my favorite songs, allowing myself to drift easily into the music. There was barely any thought involved at all as my fingers glided across the keyboard; they knew what to do.

I must have played for a couple hours without realizing it, because before I knew it, my maids were bustling into my room, exclaiming that I was already up and bemoaning the state of my sleep-bereft eyes.

The day passed like a slow-death march. I could tell that Kriss, Elise, and even Celeste were feeling the pressure too, although I noted with some odd sense of superiority that none of them had nearly as much at stake as I did. We spent our meals in tense silence, although Kriss made occasional, half-hearted attempts at light conversation. Outside of these meals, we each sat muttering to ourselves like crazy ladies, making sure we had everything memorized to perfection. If at least one of us didn't collapse from the stress, I would consider our performances an incredible success.

Then it was time to get ready. I stared vacantly forward as Anne, Mary, and Lucy painted on my show face, curled and twisted my hair into a cascade of red, and fitted my snugly into my dress. My near-sleepless night was beginning to catch up with me. Lucy asked me to close my eyes while she applied some of my eye makeup, and I almost couldn't open them again. I was shocked out of my trance when Mary squeezed all the breath out of me, securing me tightly into the bodice of the dress, and then led me to the full-length mirror. I had forgotten what they could do when they were on their game.

The dress, more like a gown, was a pale purple, nearly white, and strapless. The top of the dress was cut into a heart shape and fit tightly around my torso, while the bottom gracefully billowed out and down to the floor. It artfully gave the impression of innocence, and yet, I had curves. The dress gave me very definite curves that, while they wouldn't compete with Celeste's, would definitely make an impression. It made me nervous all over again. Now, not only did I have to give a flawless performance, I would have to do so while showing my cleavage to the nation, and without the ability to breathe properly. The dress was perfect and in that moment, I resented my maids for it.

Of course, I took all those negative thoughts back as soon as I saw the looks on the other girls' faces. They all looked beautiful, but Elise and Kriss eyed my dress longingly, while Celeste turned almost as red as her dress. She managed to compose herself as soon as Gavril Fadaye entered to lead prepare us for our entrance. She was the ultimate performer, and I reminded myself to take some lessons from her.

And then there was the look on Maxon's face as I stepped onstage. It was just for moment, before he remembered where he was and resumed his polite, detached expression, but it reminded me once again why I was here, enduring sleepless nights and stress-filled performances in front of thousands of strangers. I could do this, and I would do it, for the boy who held my heart.

Elise went first, and as I watched her stumbling attempts to explain how she could be of aid in the war against New Asia, I realized I wasn't the only one who was at real risk here. Gavril Fadaye stuck closely to the script, allowing Elise some strong moments, but then the king began asking his own questions. His questions were leading, challenging, and left Elise looking like an anxious, insecure, weak young girl. I wondered how the war was going. There had been a lot of emergency meetings and briefing as of late. Perhaps things had taken a turn from the worse; maybe Elise's family wasn't being as helpful as King Clarkson wanted. It was uncomfortable to watch, and I prayed for it to end soon, for Elise's sake, even though it meant my turn would be even closer.

Watching this first, painful wreck of an interview, also made me realize, with dawning terror, that the scripts we were given to learn were only a small part of the battle. This wasn't simply a contained interview with a practiced host, it was an actual meeting with the royal family, and they would throw whatever they had at me. Given my past record with King Clarkson, I knew I was in line to be verbally beaten down. I reminded myself once more to appear cool and collected no matter what, and hoped that my beautiful dress didn't reveal any sweat stains. The nerves were really getting to me now.

Celeste was next. She practically draped herself all over Maxon as she sat on the loveseat next to him, and I had flashes back to the night I found them together. I forced myself to focus on the current proceedings, and tried to swallow back the nausea that began to kick in.

The king was evidently a fan of Celeste's, because his questions ran more along the lines of, "So tell us even more reasons why you're amazing and poised and beautiful." Thank goodness for Queen Amberly. She cut in more during this interview, challenging Celeste on what specific issues she would focus on as future Queen, and how exactly she would support those issues and Maxon. Celeste was, as usual, unflappable, but people had to notice her complete lack of any substantial answers.

Kriss followed after Celeste, looking lovely but nervous as she took her seat next to Maxon. He placed his hand on her thigh as though to calm her, and she smiled gratefully as she took his hand in hers. It was the first time during the interviews that Maxon had physically interacted with anyone, and it left me stunned. My eyes zeroed in on their hands, casually intertwined in front of the nation. I felt like I was on the verge of either passing out or throwing an epic temper tantrum. Instead I sat calmly in my seat, watching Gavril and the royal family ask Kriss baby questions, while she smiled and giggled her way through the answers. It appeared that no one wanted Kriss to go home, besides me (and Celeste).

And then it was my turn. I was already so drained and exhausted from the previous night and from sitting through all the other interviews. I wasn't sure if I would remember any of the answers that I had thought were so ingrained in my mind.

I approached their seating area slowly, glancing between the four people on stage. When I glanced at the queen, I could have sworn I saw her wink at me. Even if I had just hallucinated that in my exhaustion, it gave me the boost I needed to get to the loveseat and take my place next to Maxon.

I looked up at him eagerly, hoping he would also give me some sort of encouragement. Maxon immediately took my hand in his, giving it a small squeeze and then drawing it to his lips, to give it a gently kiss, before releasing it back down to the couch. I produced a real smile for the first time that day, and then the interview began.

"And now, we have the final contestant of the remaining four," Gavril announced. "Lady America Singer! Now, Lady America, your presentation during the last Report was cut short due to an electrical glitch. Would you like to summarize the contents of your presentation?"

"Of course, Gavril," I smiled brightly. Here it was, the moment where I tried to take it all back and convince the king I could remain here. "Before I begin though, I'd just like to confess that I was somewhat – unprepared – for the presentation. I'm afraid I had been spending too much time with Prince Maxon and not enough time preparing." I smiled ruefully at this, and Maxon played along, grabbing my hand and chuckling affectionately, before allowing me to continue. "I made some unfortunate word choices and didn't really think everything through. I discussed it with Prince Maxon after the broadcast and he helped me see some of the errors in my thinking."

"You and our prince certainly seem to be spending a lot of time together," Gavril put in helpfully.

"I try to spend as much time with him as possible," I smiled once more at Maxon and wrapped my arm through his. _I must be driving the other girls crazy_, I thought with some satisfaction.

"In my presentation," I continued, "I spoke of my great love for this country, and also of the challenges I faced growing up. There wasn't always enough to eat, and we often went without electricity. However, I feel fortunate that I was born as a five. I love to play music; this station has always suited me. Others are not so lucky. My brother favors science over the arts, and I fear he faces a difficult future because of this.

What I propose are adjustments to the system that ensure everyone has access to food and electricity, and then some sort of placement program that allows people with a proclivity towards another skillset, or exceptional individuals, to test into another caste. We ought to have in place a more supportive system for upward mobility."

"Interesting ideas, Lady America," Gavril responded. "Do you have any suggestions for this placement program?"

"Oh, nothing concrete yet," I smiled. I was trying to muster up as many appealing smiles as possible. "I've been talking with Prince Maxon about possible ways to create such a program, and he has been such an incredible help to me. However, it is such a big change that it will take years just to plan such a program."

"Well then it seems you will have to stick around for quite a while to see this program though," Gavril said, with a wink.

"_Exactly,_" I smiled radiantly, and basked in the chuckles that produced.

The king leaned forward then. I had nearly forgot about him as I focused on appealing to the audience.

"So you have decided then, that it is _not_ a good idea to repeal the caste system?" King Clarkson asked me. His eyes were cold and penetrating. It wiped the smile right off my face.

"That's right, Your Highness."

"And why is that?"

Here it was – King Clarkson's test. This was the moment I really needed to get right. I swallowed, took a deep breath, and began.

"Gregory Illea put the caste system in place for a reason. The system ensures order and safety for everyone, and to simply remove it would cause chaos and violence."

I hoped it didn't sound like I was just reciting lines.

"I'm sure Gregory Illea and everyone in charge know better than I do the best way to govern the nation. I feel that I can learn over time, but the prince already has a lifetime of learning."

My answer seemed to appease the king, at least for the time being. He leaned back in his seat and allowed Gavril to follow with another rehearsed question.

Finally, the interview was over. My jaw ached from smiling so much, and my body felt damp from sweat. I hoped I looked better than I felt.

I took my seat to the side with the rest of the girls, while Gavril interviewed the royal family for a few minutes about their thoughts on the preceding interviews. All the anxious energy I'd possessed during my interview immediately flew out of me as I sat down. I was exhausted, physically and mentally. I could sleep soon, and deal with the results of this Report later.

Once Gavril finished speaking with the royal family, we were officially off the air. The king and queen wished everyone a good night and retreated quickly. Maxon stuck around a little longer to thank us all for our hard work, then ceded the floor to Silvia. She looked pleased, so it seemed that we had done well overall.

"Excellent job, ladies," she announced as the crew cleaned up the set. "You all worked very hard and it showed. Now, go back to your rooms and rest up. You have another big day tomorrow!"

_What's happening tomorrow?_ I wondered vaguely as I trudged through the palace halls, back to my room where my wonderful maids would be waiting to wash away the day.

Celeste must have read my mind, because as she brusquely shoved past me she turned and said, "Another elimination tomorrow. Sleep tight!" With a cruel, confident smile she swept on down the hall.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know it's been slow with the America / Maxon action, but she's still trying to get back into everyone's good graces! There will be more to come. I'm not making any promises for when the next chapter will be up, because I seem to keep missing my deadlines here, but I will get it up! Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	6. Chapter 6

At breakfast the next morning, Kriss and Celeste appeared to be nice and relaxed. Elise and I, on the other hand, were tense and jittery, still feel ing the lingering pressure from the night before. It was clear which among us were most at risk of heading onto the chopping block. While I was beginning to recover from the intense stress of that last Report, I couldn't breathe easy just yet.

Towards the end of the meal, Maxon caught my eye and subtly tugged at his earlobe. My heart nearly stopped. Either I had performed well enough that he could begin spending more time with me again, or he was looking to catch me alone so that he could break the news that I was going home. I gulped down my swig of tea and confirmed the meeting with a tug at my own ear. Whatever the news, I couldn't avoid it for long.

Maxon smiled at me, and then turned his attention towards the rest of the table. Standing up from his chair, he cleared his throat. He caught our attention instantly.

"Ladies," he began, "first of all, I want to thank you, truly, for all the hard work you put into last night's Report, and this entire process. You cannot know what it means to me that the four of you remain. Unfortunately," now he began to look uncomfortable, "although it pains me to do so, I must send one of you home today. I would like to meet with each of you individually today to, uh, discuss your futures here. If you would meet in the interior lounge in an hour, we will be able to commence from there."

He had become increasingly discomfited as he spoke, but as he finished his speech, he bowed politely towards us and then smoothly departed, his parents following after.

We all looked around the table at one another, the remaining four. I could see thoughts processing rapidly for everyone as we considered who would be leaving, and how to best use our alone time with Maxon. Suddenly, Celeste flung herself up and swept out of the room. We watched her go in silence for a few seconds, before recovering ourselves.

"She's going to get dressed up," Kriss stated her realization out loud. The rest of us scrambled up then. We had to attempt to match Celeste's appearance in less than an hour.

Lucy had not been present before breakfast. She was sick, Anne and Mary had told me. The remaining two had seemed distant as they made me up, and I wondered if something had happened the night before to upset them. Before I left the breakfast table, I wrapped up a chocolate muffin in a napkin, hoping it could be passed onto Lucy as a get-well treat, and then rushed after the other retreating girls.

When I burst into my room, I discovered Anne and Mary bickering quietly by the door.

"Miss America!" Anne exclaimed in surprise.

"Anne! Mary! Is Lucy still feeling unwell?"

The two exchanged glances and then Anne responded formally, "Lucy is still not feeling up to service this morning."

"I'm sorry she's not feeling well! Is there anything I can do?"

"No, lady, there is not."

"Well, I brought her this muffin in case she wants a bit of chocolate to perk her up."

As Mary delicately took the crumbled napkin from me, I realized my attempt to help seemed feeble. I didn't know how sick she was. She might need medicine, not a muffin.

"Did you need us, lady?" Anne asked me.

"Oh yes, I do! We'll each be meeting with the prince today for the next elimination, in less than an hour, and I need to outshine the other girls! Can you help?"

I was expecting them to immediately and eagerly burst into action with some incredible new outfit they'd been planning. Instead I received another formal response from Anne.

"Of course, lady, we will help. We do not have any new dresses ready for you, but perhaps we can improve your hair and makeup and modify one of the older dresses. Please, sit."

I took a seat at the vanity mirror and Anne quietly began on my hair while Mary rooted through my closet for an appropriate dress. They remained oddly brusque and silent through the entire process, effectively shutting down all my attempts to make conversation:

"Do you know what's wrong with Lucy?"

"No, lady, only that's she's feeling unwell."

"…Did you see the Report last night?"

"I did."

"Oh. Well, what did you think?"

"It was informative."

"Informative how?"

"Informative in showing the views of each contestant."

"...The dress you made for me was perfect! How did it look on screen?"

"Very nice, lady."

"Is everything okay, Anne?"

"Of course, lady."

Finally, I gave up my attempts at making conversation. I wondered if Lucy's presence really made such a difference in my interactions with them all, or if there was something going on that Anne wasn't telling me. Unfortunately, I didn't have much time to investigate. The hour was almost up when Anne and Mary finished helping me prepare.

They had dressed me once again in the beautiful travel cloak they'd made for me the last time I was meant to be eliminated. I wondered if they knew something I didn't, or if it was simply the best they could do in that timeframe. Either way, they had made me look striking, and if I didn't outshine Celeste, I would still be noticed.

When I arrived in the lounge, Kriss and Celeste were already there, along with Silvia. I took a seat in one of the chairs near Kriss to await Elise and Maxon.

Once I was seated, Silvia stood before us. "Now that you're all here, I will go get the prince."

All here? Elise still wasn't here. I looked at Kriss, who looked back at me in confusion. We both looked towards Celeste, who had adopted a satisfied smirk. She figured it out faster than we had; Elise must have been eliminated in the hour we had just spent primping ourselves. We were it now, the final three.

Maxon stepped into the room, appearing solemn and handsome in a tight, high-necked, button-down shirt, the late morning light glinting off his golden hair.

"Ladies. Kriss, Celeste, America. Elise is no longer in the Selection. She will be departing the palace shortly if you wish to say your goodbyes to her. You are the final three in the competition, and I am so happy that you are all still here. There will be more tasks for you to perform in the coming days, but for today, I would like to spend more time getting to know each of you better."

He looked toward Kriss, sitting in the center of our group. "Kriss, would you join me now?"

I felt a terrible swell of jealousy as Kriss beamed brightly and stood to join Maxon. He smiled sweetly back at her, and I could have frozen both of them in the coldness of my glare. I felt heat coming from my right side, and guessed that was the fiery rage of Celeste's pride rearing its head. In a few moments, both of us had regained our composure. I was getting better at this acting thing.

Maxon smiled towards Celeste. "Celeste, I will come find you in a little while. I hope you'll be available to spend some time with me."

Before I could get too far into imagining how they would spend their time, Maxon was facing me. "And America, in a few hours, I would love for you to join me for a walk in the gardens."

"Of course," I smiled, trying to suppress all the insecure, angry emotions that had just surfaced.

Perhaps he saw that I was struggling, because then Maxon quietly tugged his ear once more, smiling hopefully at me. I returned the action. Maybe we just gave away our secret code to the other girls, but I felt a little bit better knowing we still shared that little something. I was still here, I reminded myself. I had survived another day. I must have done will on the Report, or maybe Maxon had just fought for me again, but either way, Maxon still wanted me here, and so I would continue to fight.

Silvia announced that we would be meeting back in the lounge before dinner for information on our upcoming tasks, and then we were dismissed. Maxon and Kriss walked arm and arm out the side door, while I followed a stormy Celeste out the front.

I was feeling restless from that meeting, and I needed something to fill my time. I decided to try to find Elise before she left. We had never been close, but we hadn't been enemies either, and it felt right to send her off. I turned to head back to our area of rooms. Perhaps she was still packing.

Her rooms were empty when I arrived. It was eerie, really. She had spent months living in the palace, but suddenly it was as if she'd never been here. I began wandering over towards the main entrance of the palace, hoping I'd cross her path somewhere along the route. Instead, in a narrow corridor approaching a small staircase down to the main level, I ran into Aspen.

"Aspen!" I hadn't caught sight of him in weeks now, and it was a shock to see him now. It was as if my past, and all the past struggles and secrets that had bogged me down early on in the Selection, had suddenly caught up with me.

"America."

"How are you? Where have you been? I haven't seen you in weeks!"

I had forgotten how good he looked in that uniform, clean-shaven, handsome and just, masculine. He could sweep a girl off her feet if she weren't careful. He already had, twice before.

"I switched rotations. I didn't want to bother you with my presence. You said you wanted space, after all. Of course, that was meant to be while you were back home, not gallivanting around the palace, pretending you were never a five."

"I wanted to explain to you! I didn't have a chance- what do you mean, pretending I was never a five?"

He laughed shortly. "Explain what? That you're in love with the prince? Or that you just want some power? Right now I'm not sure which it is, that would make you go back on all your beliefs."

"What are you talking about? I'm not interested in the power! I'm not going back on my beliefs!"

"Give it up, America! I saw you on the Report last night. I saw your _performance_. The way you just took it all back, saying the caste system is a good thing, that it's best for everyone. After everything we've been through, everything our _families_ have been through, that you could _say_ all those things. People believed in you, America. You gave them hope, and then you just took it all back. You're even worse than the ones and twos."

"No, Aspen! You don't understand-" I tried to counter.

"You're right, I don't understand! I don't understand what happened to you. I don't understand how you could betray everyone you love for some prince. I don't know who you are anymore, but you're not the girl I fell in love with. "

With that, Aspen turned and marched off down the hall, in the direction I had been headed.

I was stunned. _Is that how my performance had come across last night? Had I really done so much damage?_ _My maids_, I realized with a start. _Is that why they had been acting so cold?_

I was sinking into a black hole of doubt and self-hatred. I needed to think this out. I needed to talk to someone else. I needed to do something, _anything_, but all I really wanted to do at the moment was go back to my room and hide under a mountain of bed covers.

I turned back towards the way I had come, my original goal of finding Elise abandoned, and stopped cold in my tracks, all worries about my performance on the Report temporarily forgotten. Because standing at the end of the corridor, looking gleefully as though she'd just won the Selection, stood Celeste.

* * *

Hi hi - hope you enjoyed this chapter! The Aspen thing had to come up eventually... Was he too hard on America or was he right? What do you think? Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

I sat at my piano, staring blankly ahead. My eyes vaguely registered the sheet music in front of them, but the notes had blurred into meaningless lines of black and white. My hands rested listlessly against the keyboard. I felt utterly drained of energy. I had sat down thinking to distract myself with music, but as soon as I collapsed my weight onto the bench, I stopped. My body, my limbs, felt heavy. There was too much happening in my mind – every part of me was consumed by my thoughts, so that there was nothing left for physical movement.

Today was not going at all as planned. It was supposed to be easier than yesterday, without the Report to worry about. Somehow, though, I felt more overwhelmed and lost than ever before.

Aspen's words hung heavily in my mind, a thick tapestry of doubt dampening the certainty I'd found after nearly losing Maxon and then meeting with the queen. His expression, furious, hurt, even disgusted, floated in front of me when I closed my eyes. I had disappointed him so profoundly. Had I gone back on my beliefs? Had I betrayed my people? I had convinced myself that I was acting for the right reasons, but was I just deluding myself? Was I playing directly into the king's hands, by saying exactly what he wanted me to say?

Even if I had managed to convince the king that I could stay, and that I wasn't the worst possible choice for Maxon, now my relationship with the prince was at stake once again. I had been trying so hard to regain Maxon's trust, but I had failed in the most fundamental way. _Aspen_. I knew it was wrong, but I had almost hoped I could get away with not mentioning my relationship with Aspen to Maxon. I had put it behind me as a part of my quest to win Maxon's trust, or at least I thought I had, but now Celeste could blow the whole thing out into the open.

"Was that guard bothering you?" she had asked me, so innocently.

"No," I had stumbled out, shell-shocked and disoriented.

"No? That seemed like quite a heated little encounter. If a guard talked to me like that, I would have him out on the streets immediately. Unless…" she had paused then, her eyes widening in feigned shock. "You don't have some sort of _personal_ relationship with that guard? What am I saying, of course you don't. You would never be so stupid or reckless, especially not after what happened to Marlee. Besides, you love Maxon too much. We all do."

I tried to figure out what she was saying to me, the subtext beneath her words, but my mind was moving too sluggishly. Had she heard everything or not?

Celeste was watching for my response, her gaze steady and her face placid. Only a small smirk revealed that there was anything occurring beyond polite conversation.

When I failed to respond, she had continued, "Maxon, of course, would be devastated if he discovered another one of us fooling around behind his back. It would be so much worse than what Marlee did to him. I mean, we are the final three. Could you even imagine the punishment? It would be far worse than just a public caning."

With that she had smiled and abruptly ended the encounter. "Well, I'm off to see Maxon now. He has something _special_ planned for me, and I don't want to disappoint him."

Now I just had to sit and wait to see what damage Celeste had done. How could I ever redeem myself if she told him about Aspen? And I had to redeem myself, I realized suddenly. If I lost my place here now, then I really would have just betrayed my beliefs. I would never have the chance to prove I wasn't really one of _them_, one of the upper caste members, or to make any changes to the system.

So that settled it. I had to stay here and win Maxon back no matter the cost, and to do that I needed a plan. I needed help. I needed my maids, who were out of my room at the moment and likely hated me. I needed Marlee, who was unreachable without Maxon's help. I needed Maxon.

Sharp knocks against the door interrupted my panicked train of thought. I stood, and nearly collapsed immediately. My foot had fallen asleep during my reverie, and sharp pins electrified it with the sudden weight shift. I tried to steel myself for whomever stood on the other side of the door as I limped over to it. There was another knock. I wasn't moving quickly enough with my lamed foot.

"America?" I heard Maxon call through the door. "Are you there?"

This was it, my moment of reckoning. There was no time for a plan. I would just have to make it up on the spot, and hope I could convince him. With a deep breath, I opened the door to face Maxon.

He stood in front of me, painfully handsome and open, and …smiling?

"America! Is something wrong?"

"Maxon! What – um – what are you doing here?"

His smile was fading as confusion crept in. "I told you earlier, I wanted to spend time with you this afternoon."

"Yes, but I thought, after you saw Celeste…" I trailed off, not sure what to think.

"What about Celeste? What would – you're not talking about –" Maxon's face darkened and I wondered if he had somehow just recalled his earlier time with Celeste, and the things she might have told him then.

"I thought we had resolved this. I thought you understood. What you saw that time between me and Celeste, that was just-"

"That's not what I meant!" I interrupted. I wasn't eager to relive that horrible encounter, and I certainly didn't want to start imagining Maxon and Celeste in any intimate positions again.

"Well," Maxon cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. "Well, that's not, I mean, we weren't, we were just talking."

"Oh. Okay." This had gotten extremely uncomfortable. We stood facing each other, an empty, gaping space between us that neither could cross.

"So then what did you mean?" Maxon asked finally.

"What?"

"About Celeste," he prompted.

"Right! I just meant... you're earlier than I expected."

"Oh."

We apparently didn't have a whole lot to say to each other.

"Well can I come in? Or am I too early for you?"

"Uh, come in." I stepped aside to let him pass and closed the door, turning around to face him, my back now to the door.

We stood in tense silence once again. My brain was functioning at a much slower speed today. I felt like I was wading through muddy water in this encounter.

"Dammit, America," he cried out suddenly. "I can finally spend some real time with you and it's like this! What's wrong?"

"It's just been a really long couple weeks," I answered finally. It wasn't the whole story, but it was certainly true.

"I know. I'm sorry you have to go through all this, darling. Your interview worked though. My father is now willing to give you more of a chance. He's still not entirely convinced, but he's not as opposed as he was before. So there's some good news after all of that."

"Yeah, good news," I echoed, unable to process it properly.

"I've missed you, America," he told me, and I could read the sincerity clearly in his hazy brown eyes.

"I've missed you, Maxon."

Suddenly he was close to me, pressed up against me, pushing me against the solid frame of the door as he kissed me fiercely, all of the distance of the past weeks disappearing with the weight of his body around me and the warmth of his lips against mine. Thinking was too much for me right now, but this was easy. This felt right.

I kissed him back, meeting his intensity with my own as I forced all my doubts and fears away, willing the sensation of Maxon to overload everything else. Yet one thought kept returning. He didn't know about Aspen. Celeste hadn't told him. But she would eventually, unless I told him first.

* * *

So so sorry for the hiatus! It's been a really busy couple of weeks, but I'll try to start updating more often! Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think of this latest chapter pleeease!


	8. Chapter 8

I don't know how long Maxon and I spent entwined in one another. It felt like hours and like no time at all when my maids pushed open the bedroom door, fighting against my weight and Maxon's. With flushed faces and averted eyes they rushed to apologize and back out of the room. Maxon recovered himself quickly, insisting they stay before bowing and taking his leave.

"Will you join me for dinner tonight, America?" he asked before he went.

"Of course." I was enveloped in a cloudy glow of sensation, all serious thoughts distant and hazy. I would join him for anything and damn the consequences.

Unfortunately, I had to snap back to reality as soon as the door closed behind the prince. My maids stood uncomfortably before me. They clearly hadn't expected me to be in the room, much less locked in an intimate embrace with Maxon.

"Pardon us, lady," Mary began. "We thought the room was unoccupied."

"Oh no, I'm sorry!" I gushed, wanting to somehow make up for everything. "I should have, or I shouldn't have, I'm just-"

"No need to explain, lady." Mary was acting more formal than usual. I knew this had to be deeper than the awkwardness of the moment before.

"Are you feeling better, Lucy?" I asked. She stood quietly with the other two women, looking subdued but healthy.

"Yes, lady."

"You can all me America," I reminded them.

"Yes lad – America," Lacy amended her response.

"Is something wrong?" I desperately wanted to move beyond this impasse.

"No lady," Anne responded brusquely, "we just have work to do." She began to move past me.

"Wait!" I stopped her. "There is clearly something wrong, and I can't stand to have you acting this way! You're my friends and I don't want this distance between us!"

"But there is a distance between us," Anne practically spat at me, "You're a three and we're just sixes. There needs to be a divide between us for this nation to function properly."

There it was – my confirmation that I had betrayed them. I had never seen Anne lose her temper like that before and it was terrible to be the target of her anger.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, my voice stuck weakly in the back of my throat. "I didn't think, I mean, I didn't mean to. I didn't mean it."

"Well you said it," Anne wasn't giving an inch.

"Please, just listen. Those things I said, I had to say them! It was the only way the king would let me stay."

"So you're just becoming one of them."

"No! I'm not! I need to pretend that I am though, otherwise I don't stand a chance! I can't do anything right now. Right now I'm just a girl in the Selection that the king hates. If I'm actually going to change anything, then I need to win! I need to be the princess so that I have any chance getting rid of the castes!"

"She's right, Anne." Mary, who had so far been silently observing our argument, cut in then. "Do you really think she can say whatever she wants and the royal family will just hand her a crown?"

Anne stood watching me, her anger loosening into something more pliable.

"I know," she said finally. "I know it all, and I'm sorry, miss. It was just so difficult to watch. We've been telling all the other girls that you're different from the rest of them, and hearing you say all those things, it felt like you were someone else."

"I guess I was pretty convincing," I joked.

"That you were," Anne responded dryly.

"Well I'm sorry I had to say all those things. I really am. It's just another step in winning back Maxon's trust."

"And I'm sorry for getting so angry, miss."

"We all are," Mary interjected.

"I just hope they're not manipulating you into the person they want you to be," Anne said.

"They're not," I reassured her, but I realized I wasn't so confident. I hadn't really considered that angle, but I felt a chill of doubt as I wondered if I'd played right into their hands. _Trust Maxon_, I reminded myself. _I just need to trust him_.

* * *

A shorter chapter this time, but a longer Maxon-centered chapter is in the works, and I'll definitely get it posted some time this week. Thanks so much for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

The reconciliation with my maids felt so sweet after a day adrift from them.

"Maxon certainly looked happy to see you," Mary joked as Anne scolded her to stop.

"We need to get you dressed for dinner!" Lucy exclaimed, suddenly bright and open now that the fighting was over. "And then while you're at dinner we can get back to work on-"

"Lucy!" Anne shushed her.

"Back to work on what?" I asked.

"We _wanted_ it to be a surprise," Anne said pointedly toward Lucy. "We're working on a new dress for you."

"It's going to be _amazing_," Lucy burst out eagerly.

"Do I need to send you away?" Anne teased her.

"What's it like?"

"We can't tell you that!" Mary responded. "It's going to be a surprise!"

We laughed and chatted until a guard knocked on the door to escort me to dinner. I was feeling a million times lighter, and I realized I hadn't really smiled in days.

The guard led me towards the wing of royal bedrooms and I wondered if dinner would be in Maxon's room, and what to think of that. However before we quite reached the hall, he turned and instead we ended at a pair of double doors. He knocked and then opened the doors, bowing slightly as I walked past him.

Maxon stood by a table at the other end of the small room, smiling as he watched me take in the setting. The space was illuminated softly with dozens of tall, flickering candles. Gentle piano music floated in from a nearby room. The table stood in front of a grand window overlooking the gardens below.

Maxon approached me and brought my hand to his lips for a gentle kiss.

"I'm so glad you're here, America."

"This is amazing, Maxon! It's so beautiful in here!"

"Wait until you try the food." His expression was sly, making me wonder what exactly he had planned.

He led me to the table and pulled out my chair before taking a seat beside me.

"I hope you're hungry," he said with a gleam in his eyes. Maxon signaled to a waiter standing at a connecting door, and so began our meal.

"Wine?" he offered as servers laid out covered dishes, which emanated steam and delectable aromas.

"Oh, I don't usually-"

"It's very good. I picked it out for you. I think you'll enjoy it."

He was right. The golden wine was slightly sweet, with a little bit of tanginess, and filled me with a pleasant warmth at the first sip.

"I love it. Thank you."

Maxon looked pleased and began to reach for my hand, but at that moment, the servers each grabbed two of the dish covers and lifted them away, revealing our food with a flourish.

There was cheesy macaroni, rich beef stew, doughy rolls, curried chickpeas, roasted chicken, and so much more. I was astounded, and suddenly extremely hungry.

"Maxon, this is…" I trailed off, realizing there was not a single missing dish.

"It's all your favorite foods from the palace. Of course, you need to make sure to save room for dessert. I think there are even more dishes for that course," he joked.

"This is incredible! I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything, darling. Eat!"

As I served myself spoonfuls of everything, Maxon explained. "You've been working so hard and I haven't been around at all. I wanted to really thank you for staying and making such an effort. I want to show you how happy I am that you're still in this."

"You're welcome," I tried to say, but my face was so stuffed that it came out as more of a grunt. I needed to slow down and take dainty bites, like Kriss or Celeste would, I reminded myself.

Maxon laughed and began serving himself generous portions of each.

"I don't know your favorite foods, though," I remarked, after I'd swallowed the rest of my mouthful. It was strange, he knew so many little details about me, and I knew so much less about him.

"That's because you're too focused on your food during meals to pay attention," he said playfully.

"Hey!" I smacked him gently on the arm and he laughed in response.

"I didn't mean it! I like how much you appreciate the food. It's refreshing. It reminds me not to take anything for granted."

"So what are your favorite foods then, Maxon?"

"Hmm, let me think. Well, I love a good steak, with potatoes and buttery sauce, and of course, there's everyone's favorite, a warm chocolate cake."

"Not everyone. I'm sure Celeste would never touch that."

Maxon chuckled. "No she would not," he agreed, and I read some affection in his tone.

My appetite suddenly died as a familiar knot tightened in my stomach. I took a long swig of wine to warm my insides back up. Maxon sensed my discomfort and attempted to change the subject.

"I remember the first time I tried the chocolate cake. It was extraordinary. I really believed there was nothing better in the world. So of course, I began demanding our cooks make it for me at every meal. My mother would scold me, so then I just learned not to ask in her presence. I would sneak back into the kitchen and demand it. The cooks must have despised me. It's not an easy thing to make, which I learned the hard way. After about a week of this, the head cook finally told me if I wanted more cake, I would have to make it myself. I had never cooked before, so it was certain to be a disaster, but no one anticipated what a grand disaster it would be. After four hours in the kitchen, and nearly burning the place down – I say this quite literally, guards had to come in and put out a large grease fire – the head cook forbade me from ever entering the kitchen again. It didn't change my love of that cake, but it did teach me to limit how often I asked for it."

By the end of his story I was laughing and indulging in our meal once more. It felt so wonderful to hear these stories from his childhood, to learn more about the man I might marry.

"So will you be baking me a chocolate cake as a fiery finale to this dinner?"

"Don't worry, our lives are still safe. The cooks agreed to prepare all the desserts. This is a special occasion, after all."

"Oh is it?"

"It is. We're celebrating your being among the final three, and passing my father's test. I can't say how happy I am that you're still here America."

"I'm happy too," I felt a flash of guilt as I recalled Aspen and my failure to tell Maxon about him. Tonight wasn't the time though. I had only just started to get Maxon back, after all, I told myself, swallowing this resolution with another gulp of wine. There was still time.

By the time dessert arrived, I was stuffed beyond comfort and feeling light and loopy from the wine. Maxon had warned me, but I was still shocked at the amount of desserts that the servers brought to the table. There were rich brownies, almond cake, apple pie, vanilla custard, and of course, the warm chocolate cake.

I sampled bites of everything, including the legendary cake, and then the meal was over. We were both silly and giddy from the food and the wine and the company. We'd learned so much more about each other and I began to feel more secure in my standing with the prince. I felt better than I had in weeks.

The halls were nearly empty as Maxon walked me back to my room. Our dinner had lasted longer than I'd realized. When we reached my door he pulled me in close for a heady, lingering kiss. That slow burn had returned and I so wanted to pull him into my room with me, but a guard stood a respectful distance from my door, trying to pretend he couldn't see us together. I lost track of time once more, and then Maxon pulled away.

"I should get to bed," his voice was hoarse and I could see in his eyes, if I invited him in, he would accept my invitation.

Finding some reserve of discipline, I nodded in agreement.

"Good night, Maxon."

* * *

Hope you all enjoyed that! I've got some plans for the Final Three that will be coming along soon. As always, thank you SO MUCH for reading (and reviewing?)!


	10. Chapter 10

"Wake up, miss," Anne's voice cut through the blissful fog of sleep. As soon as I was conscious, I desperately wished I wasn't. My head throbbed and the light bursting in through the windows was painfully bright.

"Hunnmnghr," I groaned.

"You must get up, miss," Anne said more sternly. "You'll be late for breakfast, and you must be at a meeting for the remaining Selected directly after the meal. We also have some extra work to do this morning."

I didn't know what she meant about the extra work until I was finally out of bed and in front of the mirror. I was a mess, with last night's makeup smeared around my face, my hair an angry ball of knots, and my eyes red and puffy.

"What happened to you last night, miss?" Lucy asked with wonder. I noticed Anne and Mary exchange amused glances.

After a quick bath and some slow, masterful work by my maids, I looked like a normal human being again. I had missed the start of breakfast so I would have to rush to the dining room, if my throbbing head allowed it.

"Water, Lady America," Mary advised as I stepped out the door. "Drink _lots_ of water."

My attempt to slide sneakily into the dining room failed miserably. Despite Anne's warning, I hadn't counted on Silvia making an announcement for the remaining three first thing, and the king and queen observing with interest. As soon as I cracked the door open, all heads in the room turned expectantly towards me.

"Lady America, there you are," Silvia said immediately, disapproval lacing her voice. "We have some important news to share and have been waiting on you."

"I'm so sorry I'm late," my throat was still parched and my apology came out as a growl. "I wasn't feeling well this morning."

No one looked pleased with my explanation, but they allowed it to pass and I slid into my seat with my head low. Celeste jerked away from me as if I were contagious, while Kriss watched me with exaggerated concern. I eyed Maxon once I was seated. There were dark circles under his eyes but otherwise he looked no worse for wear. He returned my surreptitious gaze with concern, but I could have sworn there was a hint of amusement there as well. When my head stopped pounding, I would get him for that.

Before I could reach for a sticky roll, Silvia had taken her place at the front of the room and called for our attention. I gulped down my glass of water, hoping it would be enough to sustain me through her announcement.

"Ladies, as you know, you are the final three contestants in the Selection. You've all done wonderful work so far and come so very far over your months here. Soon, you will have the opportunity to exhibit all that you've learned for the high society of Illea. Queen Amberley will now present you with more details."

Silvia stood to the side of the room as the queen began.

"In two weeks, we celebrate the ancient holiday of Thanksgiving with the annual Thanksgiving ball. Each year, the ball is attended by the most important members of government and society, as well an international leaders and diplomats.

"You will each have a hand in planning this event in collaboration with myself. This is an extremely important event meant to solidify good will within the nation and with our allies. Therefore, everything must be perfect. However, your main task is to make an impression upon the attendees. You must give them faith that you will be a worthy leader of Illea, and this is not an easy group to please. I will meet with each of you individually later today to go over what I expect from you. Silvia?"

The queen nodded towards Silvia, who resumed her spot at the front of the room.

"The Thanksgiving ball will be broadcast to the nation this year, as a part of the Selection proceedings, and you have one more important task. In addition to impressing the guests of the ball on your own merits, you must also demonstrate to them and the nation that you are a good match for our prince. You will each be sharing a dance with Prince Maxon, which will be broadcast and which will be instrumental in impressing upon the nation the strength of your relationship with the prince."

"You will each meet with me and Prince Maxon later today to begin rehearsing this dance. Please meet me in the Women's Rooms in one hour, and we can begin our preparations. In the meantime, enjoy your breakfasts and make sure to fill up. You'll need the energy today."

After devouring rolls, toast, eggs and tea, I was beginning to feel like half a person, but even if I were fully recovered, I still wouldn't feel confident about the nationally broadcast dance. How did a single dance prove the worth of a relationship? What was this skewed judging method? Perhaps the king noticed my lack of dance skills and purposely devised this task.

A short time later, I sat demurely in the Women's Rooms with the other girls as Silvia read us our work times with her and the Queen.

"Each day, until the event, you will each spend an hour with me, and an hour with the Queen in a one-on-one setting. This means you will have plenty more time on your own to practice and prepare. I strongly urge you to use that time wisely."

She assigned each of us a time for our daily sessions. I was up second with the queen, and last with Silvia, which meant I had another hour to myself, to recover more from the night before and worry about the prospect of the dance.

"Celeste, you will meet Queen Amberley in her offices. The guards will escort you there now. Ladies, when you go to meet with the Queen, meet the guards here and they will escort you."

"Kriss, you can head over to the classroom right now. I'll meet you there in just a few minutes."

Celeste strode over to the guards, who bowed respectfully and led her away. Kriss smiled sweetly and took her leave as well. This left me alone with Silvia.

"You're looking worse for wear, Lady America," Silvia remarked.

"I'm not feeling well this morning," I responded meekly.

"Remember, you must learn to hide that," she scolded, and then continued. "Now, Lady America, dance is not your strong suit."

That was putting it mildly.

"The other girls will have one hour each day rehearsing with me and a male partner. I scheduled you last for your session with me in order to give you extra time. You will spend two hours a day practicing with me. You need the extra help. Please don't mention this to the other girls. I don't want them thinking you are receiving preferential treatment.

"You have two weeks, Lady America. You must work twice as hard as Celeste and Kriss. Put your time to good use."

* * *

Thanks for much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed! I'm setting up for some interesting new challenges in the competition. And the rebels and the king are just biding their time...

I'm not going to be updating too often this month since I've just started on NaNoWriMo for a separate project (and for those of you who want to write, I strongly recommend it!). But there is plenty more to come and I promise I'll be back with more!


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